NAS/HTPC Build

[Duracellhcadhd]

I'm thinking of building NAS from parts i got laying on the closet. Some i5-2500k, 24Gb DDR3, GTX 750 or RX 580 8Gb. I know the RX 580 is way more powerful but i would have to get new PSU to use that.

 

But yeah to the point, what kind of software you guys recommend?

 

My goal is that i could use it as a NAS and HTPC, so i could keep it under my tv and stream videos to it from my main PC and possibly run Netflix client with it. Also i would want some PiHole running to it but its not deal break if i don't get it.

 

Is some kind of Docker thing easy to make? I know how to google and find instructions to linux but my skills  in linux are not the best, but i have not wiped my linux while installing Steam :DDD 

 

Is there any ideas how i should start my journey? 

[wanderingfool2]

I would say it depends on what your ultimate goals are.  I know you said NAS and HTPC, but my thought would be how much space do you need etc...and if you are looking at a particular budget.

 

I personally find multiple harddrives to be loud and annoying when watching a movie, so my NAS actually resides in a different room.  Then I purchased something cheaper like

Dell OptiPlex 7090 UFF | Dell Refurbished

(Although I normally go cheaper, but this was my general idea back in the day...buy refurb mini-pc's for viewing as they tend to be small and quiet).

 

I personally don't play games on my TV (or none that require a lot of graphics).  So that's why I went that route.  Anyways that's why I am just inquiring about what your full use-case will be because it can change a lot of what is recommend.

 

As an example of my setup:

Ubiquity NAS (because for the bang for your buck it's pretty hard to beat at the moment unless you do have enough spare parts).  You sacrifice other uses of it, but for my purpose I don't care.

Then I have a cheap PC I picked up that is capable of 4k playback

The majority of my budget though came from buying 100 TB of storage though (raid 6)

 

That setup does everything I have a need for, and the PC is good enough to emulate a lot of retro games etc

[Duracellhcadhd]

Well, i think i will start with something like 8tb. I do have almost all the parts but case and hard drives. Possibly go with 2x4tb, i have somerhing close to 2,5tb data right now. 

 

Budget is 200-250€ that will mostly go to HDD. 

 

But those i can figure out myself without problem, what im not shure about is what kind of system i should run on it. Is there some NAS distro that lets me run other services in it? Or do i have to install linux and slice up my pc to multiple VMs and how much i might have to upgrade and go over budget to get it working.

[Bersella AI]

5 hours ago, Duracellhcadhd said:

Is there some NAS distro that lets me run other services in it?

Yes, notable ones include TrueNAS CE (formerly Scale), Unraid, Open Media Vault, and HexOS. TrueNAS would be preferred here as Unraid/HexOS requires a subscription and OMV does not have equivalent features like ZFS. In TrueNAS, custom services are provided via Apps, or Docker containers, and may be grabbed with just a few clicks (+options).

Alternatively, a generic Debian instance with a Web-based management panel like cPanel, 1Panel, may also worth considering. These panels reduces hassle on configurations and allows setting up services or VMs way faster. A small subset of features may require a subscription though.

 

If you prefer the way of virtualization, take Proxmox instead. It also has a Web interface and makes virtualization much easier.

[jscott1337]

I'm in the process of doing something very similar. I have limited CompSci experience, although I'm a Construction Manager by trade, which has a surprising overlap of skills and knowledge.  So Far, I'm running an i5-4670 on an ASUS Q87M-E (6 SATA ports) with an RX 570 and 6 4TB WD HDDs, plus a boot drive.  Plan is to set up a NAS /Plex server that is connected to all my devices (desktop, 2 laptops, ipad, two iphones). I'm going with TrueNAS for now but planning to explore a web based software package once I get my feet under me

[jscott1337]

Just now, jscott1337 said:

I'm in the process of doing something very similar. I have limited CompSci experience, although I'm a Construction Manager by trade, which has a surprising overlap of skills and knowledge.  So Far, I'm running an i5-4670 on an ASUS Q87M-E (6 SATA ports) with an RX 570 and 6 4TB WD HDDs, plus a boot drive.  Plan is to set up a NAS /Plex server that is connected to all my devices (desktop, 2 laptops, ipad, two iphones). I'm going with TrueNAS for now but planning to explore a web based software package once I get my feet under me

Quick Note, I've bought everything second hand. paid $for  cpu/mobo/case/fans, $20 for GPU and got my first few HDDs for cheaper too

[Ha-Satan]

So hold on a second, you said you want a "NAS" but is this actually going to be for file storage or just for video streaming to your TV? Because if the videos you are wanting to watch on your TV are on your main PC, you could just set up a Jellyfin server on your main PC and then get a cheap PC or Android TV box connected to your TV and stream directly from your main PC to your HTPC. You would probably want to set up your main PC with a static IP, and obviously you would need to leave it running if you want Jellyfin to be working on demand whenever you wanted, but this would work just fine and would require very little spending up front.